The BGN News Archive

December 5,2016

The Forz
Photo: Blowfish

It was a frustrating week trying to get some good sounds. It was a matter of
the bills working against us.
Friday the object was to hear Today Junior at the Midway. Even
getting there at 10pm thinking it was late-ish the first band was just
beginning. That act was Sports Coach an electronic dance act;
one guy and his equipment. It was an odd fit for the bill but people
listened and liked.

Brushes
Photo: Blowfish

Brushes have a new split EP with Today Junior. Initially I couldnt
see the compatibility because they were very controlled and low volume. Eventually
they got noisy in a few sections and you could hear a semblance to Today Junior.
They also did some high background vocals which are a Today Junior trademark
and, finally, they did have the Mike TJs drummer. Check out their
Soundcloud page

Spirit Ghost
Photo: Blowfish

Next up was Spirit Ghost who sound pretty good with their Bandcamp
material. And truth be told they werent bad but the patience
was wearing thin and the idea that the Today Junior set would end an
hour and a half later, we fled the premises.

Saturday was a similar situation at Club Bohemia. The object
then was to see Brit-beat via Brockton, MA from The Forz.

The Forz
Photo: Blowfish

A search for some material from the bands who had sets before The Forz turned
up nothing. When we got there it turned out they were two groove/ light funk
bands playing. That's the stuff that's usually going on upstarts at the Cantab.
And wouldnt you know it, downstairs was full up, just like the upstairs
is with these same type acts. How would The Forz even face this crowd?
More bad luck - the acts were running late and Forz would go on later than scheduled.
This time we fled the premises but came back.

Most of the crowd left after the second act. That was to be expected...but
some did stay and The Forz went gamely on. The rock beat after all the
groove beats was jarring at first.

The
Forz at Club Bohemia

Original Song

Here Comes Your Man

Psychotic Reaction

Open Your Eyes

They've been impressive since the first time we saw them in January
of 2015. And - they've gotten better! Everything was in place with vocals
and instrumentally, they all are very good players. The bass player has a warm
tone and is in the pocket. The main guitarist now plays a 12 string for several
songs and he milks it for all its worth. He plays riffs that are both
memorable hooks and move the songs as well as giving that distinctive tone.
Wonderful stuff.

All the songs were notable. The originals are well written. They sound
like Beatles/Zombies concoctions, thats their thing. The covers
they choose are ones that work well live. They're getting known for
their cover of Psychotic Reaction by the Count Five where the drummer
gets to show his stuff. This time they ran it straight into Nazzs
Open My Eyes. They even did Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies.

But truthfully, its the originals that'll distinguish them and they
seem to be creative on that level with their new CD they released a
while back. Bandcamp
page

We had to go through some electronic dance music and funky grooves to finally
get a good old dose of rock and roll. Sometimes it aint easy.

Walking to the car we saw the old storefront for Weirdo Records was
still there and empty. Sigh.

Weirdo Records Mass Ave
Photo: Blowfish

And in other news.....

From Danny Garcia who brought us Looking
For Johnnynow delivers Sad
Vacation - The Last Days Of Sid And Nancy.Starting this Friday Dec
9 through Dec 15. the film will be at the Regent Theater in Arlington. The documentary
is focused on the last days of Sid and Nancy at the Chelsea Hotel. They were
wallowing in drugs and you end up wallowing in the details of that drug life
as a result. Thats depressing, the whole subject is. This is not a feel
good movie. The problem is that as punks we care about Sid. He looms large in
the punk narrative. So, you want to go.

You will see Sid in a lot of shaky videos. Didnt he ever get
a quality taping? Just the My Way video it seems (it's not shown).
They cast a few possible culprits for Nancys murderer (if not
done by mishap by Sid). Some talk about how nice Sid could be but that
seems to get lost in the shuffle. Also, there's heretofor unseen photos
of Sid and Nancy and the soundtracked has music from Vicious as well
as the Heartbreakers, and a bunch of other bands you want to hear.

December 6 (Tuesday)When Particles
Collide are doing a December Residency every Tuesday at Atwood's Tavern,
7PM show

December 9 (Friday)Peter Murphy "Stripped"
-This is A rare opportunity to see Peter Murphy performing (with an ensemble
- 3 piece in all) semi-acoustic versions of his music from throughout his illustrious
career (um, $25 Advance / $35 Day of Show / $30 VIP Early Bird / $35 VIP Advance)
7 PM Doors

December 9 (Friday) our new faves State
of the Union are having their Second Annual Holiday Extravaganza out in
Lowell at Dudley's. On the bill are State of the Union, The Only Things
and Arlen. Here's the
FB page for directions etc

December 9- 13 (Fri- Tues)Danny Garcia's
Sad Vacation (a film about Sid and Nancy) is showing at The
Regent Theater. You can
get tix here.

December 11 (Sunday) Check out Sparks at
the Armory: a Sunday afternoon acoustic show celebrating the release of "Bizarre
Animals," a new photography zine by L.A. photographer Tucker Leary. Starts
at 2pm at arts at
the Armory Cafe, on the bill are Sam Moss, Vincent and Nicholas Ward of
The Furniture.

December 13 (Tuesday)When Particles
Collide are at Atwood's Tavern, 7PM show

December 13 (Tuesday)Shitted Wizard,
Shatner and Petty Morals are at O'Brien's

December 17 (Saturday) Roy Sludge is doing
at 6PM set at Sally O'Briens

December 17 (Saturday) Just in time for
the holidaze- This ain't your granma's flea market....It the Rockin' Holiday
Flea and Bloody Mary Bash at Once in Somerville! It's an ALL DAY PARRTAAY and
it's Free Admission, Open to all ages,11AM- 6PM THIS is where you get your gifts
for everyone! There'll be Tasty breakfast tacos from Cuisine En Locale! Tons
of vendors selling: Vintage clothing + Collectibles, Tons Photo booth with Panda
Clause and DJ spinnin' music! Here's
the FB page

December 20 (Tuesday)When Particles
Collide are at Atwood's Tavern, 7PM show

February 10 (Friday) The Upper Crust,
Watts and Petty Morals are at great Scott

February 10 (Friday) Lux Lives East
Coast is coming again -this event is in Salem at Koto, on the bill are
Thee Fabulous Itchies, The Evil Streaks and The Nebulas. Here's the
FB
Page Lux Lives is a chance for Bands and DJ's and fans to come together
to celebrate the life of Lux Interior. Since it's inception, Lux Lives East
Coast has raised over $10,000.00 for Lux and Ivy's favorite charity Best Friends
Animal Society. This is a GREAT event all around!

March 8 (Wednesday) The Sheckies, Mongorellis,
The Prozacs, Meat Depressed at Koto in Salem